The Organizational Development Muse

Churches, denominations and non-profits are all stuck in the same economic mud as businesses, people saving for retirement, or those living on fixed incomes. With extremely low interest rates, traditionally safe investments (savings accounts, bank certificates of deposit and money market accounts) do not make enough money to keep up with inflation. Thus, investing in what are usually considered safe vehicles actually cause long-term devaluation of savings because of inflation’s modest, but upward trend. For instance, what cost $10,000.00 in 1980 cost $26,110.95 in 2010[1]--a 3.2% average annual percentage rate.[2]

Unfortunately, most savings account rates are 1/300th of that right now, and most CDs don’t get over 1% without having quite a bit of money in for a long time. This means that the real dollar value of investments in such instruments is declining faster than interest can be added to make up for inflation.